
Jamie Dickson
Jamie Dickson is Editor-in-Chief of Guitarist magazine, Britain's best-selling and longest-running monthly for guitar players. He started his career at the Daily Telegraph in London, where his first assignment was interviewing blue-eyed soul legend Robert Palmer, going on to become a full-time author on music, writing for benchmark references such as 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die and Dorling Kindersley's How To Play Guitar Step By Step. He joined Guitarist in 2011 and since then it has been his privilege to interview everyone from B.B. King to St. Vincent for Guitarist's readers, while sharing insights into scores of historic guitars, from Rory Gallagher's '61 Strat to the first Martin D-28 ever made.
Latest articles by Jamie Dickson

When Dave Cobb traded a blender for the services of a legendary amp modder, he found the sound for Mirador’s blockbuster debut
By Matt Owen published
According to Chris Turpin – who used the amp on his new album with Jake Kiszka – Cobb acquired the mod in exchange for a $80 kitchen gadget

“Thrilling to play”: Martin GPE Inception Maple
By Jamie Dickson published
Progressive, powerful lutherie with piano-like clarity

Young Gun Silver Fox are keeping yacht-rock afloat with lawsuit guitars and 10-year-old strings
By Jamie Dickson published
Top-tier ’70s-style AOR is back on deck with Young Gun Silver Fox, whose guitarist and co-founder Shawn Lee shares how rare, oddball and collectible guitars are the wind in their sails

Wrecking old tube amps, thrashing vintage Fenders, Chris Buck is taking no prisoners as Cardinal Black return
By Amit Sharma published
With their 2022 debut, Cardinal Black introduced the world to a budding guitar hero. Chris Buck explains how its followup has taken his playing and songwriting to the next level

How L.R. Baggs reinvented the acoustic electric guitar
By Jamie Dickson published
Delivering convincing amplified acoustic guitar tone is one of the hardest feats for guitar makers – but somehow L.R. Baggs cracked it. Lloyd Baggs shares its story of radical innovation

"Crisply built and shines like a gem on the live stage": Taylor 314ce Studio review
By Jamie Dickson published
An attainably priced “serious” Taylor with high-end touches
![LA LOM [L-R] Nicholas Baker on percussion, Zac Sokolow on his fiberglass guitar, and Jake Faulkner plays a custard-yellow double bass](https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/nxKtr2RYyU72p7yqfZPjP.jpg)
Introducing LA LOM, the LA trio turning fiberglass guitars and psychedelia into a dance party of guitar instrumentals
By Jamie Dickson published
This trio fuse the rhythms of Havana, Medellín and Lima with ’60s surf rock (even if that isn’t their intention). Guitarist Zac Sokolow, bassist Jake Faulkner and drummer Nicholas Baker tell us how it all comes together

How Chris Buck and his band, Cardinal Black, took their first U.S. show by storm
By Janelle Borg published
The blues rock ace remembers how a venue booker in Nashville was astounded when a lot more people than he initially expected turned up for their show

Classical and nylon-string guitar: an introductory guide for the perplexed
By Jamie Dickson published
Three masters from the International Guitar Foundation explain the differences between classical and flamenco guitars, and talk through the essential techniques and terminology

20 ways to get more from your pedals
By Jamie Dickson published
From tone-tailoring to buying what’s right for you, here’s our guide to putting more of what counts on your ’board

Pedalboard inspiration incoming... Here are our 30 favorite new guitar pedals from the past 5 years
By Guitarist editors published
We break the glass on the pedal cabinet to dig out a long-list of some of the coolest effects from the new Golden Era of stompboxes

That Pedal Show’s Daniel Steinhardt reveals his top 5 pedals (from the past 5 years)
By Jamie Dickson published
Looking for some 'board inspiration? Here, the man behind GigRig and one half of YouTube's favorite pedal show gives us his shortlist

How the Japanese guitar market found its came of age with ‘80s Fender and Gibson clones
By Jamie Dickson published
You can’t tell the story of the Japanese guitar industry without the story of the clones – Keith Anderson of Japanese specialist Gas Station Guitars explains the history of the high-quality knock-offs that made its reputation

The Pretenders’ Chrissie Hynde and James Walbourne on what it takes to be a real guitar hero
By Jamie Dickson published
Kick ’Em Where It Hurts is the new live album from the Pretenders and it serves as a testament to a creative rebirth as they emerged from lockdown

Adam ‘Nolly’ Getgood busts myths about how to get great high-gain tone
By Jamie Dickson published
Getgood is a guru of contemporary metal guitar tones. Here he discusses the variables, from pick gauge to overdrive choices, and tackles some received wisdom that is less relevant to today's player

Johnny Marr on the magic of his 7-string signature Martin – and his fight with capo addiction
By Jamie Dickson published
Since he rose to glory in the mid-’80s with The Smiths, Marr has been the king of crystalline chime. Now, he reveals how his new M-7 Martin – complete with octave G string – puts that shimmer at your fingertips

That time Chrissie Hynde enraged one of her Pretenders bandmates because she stopped playing mid-gig
By Phil Weller published
The guitar icon once decided to spontaneously shake things up on stage, and ended up feeling the wrath of Jimmy Scott

James Dean Bradfield on unearthing his rare “birthright” guitar, gear epiphanies and why Robert Smith is underrated
By Jamie Dickson published
Manic Street Preachers' new album, Critical Thinking, had Bradfield reconnecting with guitars new and old, Nicky Wire unleashing on the title track, and it is a typically unique work from the Welsh rock institution

Chrissie Hynde on that one time she bought her own signature guitar off the shelf
By Janelle Borg published
Turns out having your own signature Fender Telecaster stocked in shops is pretty handy when you're caught without your own...

Jim D’Addario on the history, innovations and future of the world’s biggest string manufacturer
By Henry Yates published
As D’Addario celebrates its 50-year anniversary, we speak to its current chairman about the company’s roots, breakthroughs and next moves, and learn how the family has been making strings for centuries

How to get the best from your tube amp with British amp and pedal guru Dan Coggins
By Jamie Dickson published
Lovetone pedals mastermind and tone-meister at large Dan Coggins shares his tips on getting the best from the tube amp in your life

D’Addario recruits players to help test its strings – and there's one jazz veteran who is more reliable than most
By Janelle Borg published
This particular player, who has been a D'Addario artist since 1982, is instrumental in analyzing the nitty gritty of in-progress guitar strings

What the auction of Jeff Beck’s best-loved electrics tells us about the late guitar icon
By Jamie Dickson published
We join the experts from Christie’s auction house to take a closer look at the ‘Oxblood’ Les Paul, ‘Tele-Gib’ and other historic instruments from Jeff’s career – and discuss the portrait they paint of a pragmatic, restless yet peerlessly gifted talent and his musical legacy

How close are Gibson's ’59 Burst replicas and their boutique rivals?
By Jamie Dickson published
We put a Gibson Custom Shop Collector’s Edition ’59 Les Paul up against a Nik Huber Orca ’59 for the ultimate single-cut shootout

Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera on how he found his bargain Firebird and why he has no regrets about rendering a ’51 Tele “valueless”
By Jamie Dickson published
The Roxy Music guitarist invites us into his London studio to take a look at the guitars that he cut five decades of hits with, and tells us how a globe-trotting childhood led him to art-rock Shangri-La in ’70s London
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